A New Jersey woman is suing both Embassy and Hilton Worldwide for letting an attacker into her room. The incident happened in the seventh floor of the Embassy Suites in downtown Des Moines. According to the lawsuit, the woman is filing a case due to sexual assault.
According to Des Moines register, Cheri Marchionda was staying at the East Village hotel during a business trip on April 11, 2014 when suddenly, she found Christopher Edward LaPointe standing at the foot of her bed and touching her leg. Marchionda's lawyers wrote that a manager, a desk clerk and a maintenance man all helped LaPointe to enter the room without her permission.
The related report also mentioned that the negligence lawsuit was filed in a New Jersey federal court district in June, but was moved on Tuesday to Iowa. This was done after the disagreement of the victim's lawyers to a settlement during nonbinding mediation earlier in December.
In addition, WBIR stated that Marchionda's lawsuit is similar to those from another that Los Angeles lawyer, Gloria Allred, filed against Embassy Suites and its parent company, Hilton Worldwide. In which, another woman was sexually assaulted while staying at one of their hotels in North Charleston, S.C. The Post and Courier reported that a 28-year-old accuser, Kayla Denise Snipe, was assaulted while at the hotel for a company Christmas party she had planned on Dec. 14, 2013.
According to the related report, Snipe awoke in a hospital telling one of the hospital's staff to her that she has been raped. The victim rented a room at the hotel to prepare for the party and have something to stay overnight. On the other hand, Peter Steketee, general manager, of the Embassy Suites hotel, said in a statement, "Providing a safe and comfortable environment for our guests and employees is of the utmost importance to hotel management."
As of the moment, the general manager cannot provide full comments regarding the various lawsuits of their hotel unless he has seen the full details in paper. More so, related report said that La Pointe's wife blames the assault on his struggles with alcohol, but stays supportive to him.
